Awards for Excellence 2018
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The combination of a broad physical presence, in-depth regional expertise and strong public-sector connections helped Rothschild maintain its position as CEE’s best advisory bank during the current awards period.
The firm was tapped to advise on some of the most complex and high-profile financing transactions in the region, including the comprehensive structural amendment and extension of Budapest Airport’s €1.4 billion debt facilities and Ukraine’s return to the Eurobond market.
Rothschild acted as sole financial adviser to the Ukrainian finance ministry on the latter deal, which included a tender offer for two outstanding issues as well as the launch of a $3 billion 15-year soft amortizing bond. The new note, the largest ever from the Ukrainian sovereign, attracted close to $10 billion of orders from mainly international investors.
Also in Ukraine, Rothschild last year helped nationalized lender PrivatBank develop a strategy to maximize recovery from loans related to the bank’s former shareholders. Meanwhile in Russia the firm acted as adviser to noteholders in the landmark $875 million restructuring of bonds issued by Far-Eastern Shipping Company (Fesco).
On the M&A side, market dynamics played to Rothschild’s strengths as the big-ticket deals beloved of bulge-bracket firms all but disappeared and smaller transactions proliferated. According to Dealogic, total announced volumes for CEE were down by more than half from the previous awards period, while the number of deals increased by 18.6%.
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| Jacek Chwedoruk |
Rothschild’s willingness to cover the mid-market paid dividends in the form of 20 M&A mandates in the 12 months to the end of March, making it the most active adviser in Dealogic’s regional rankings.
These included acting as sell-side adviser on Hellenic Financial Stability Fund’s disposal of the Serbian operations of National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank, Polish real estate firm Robyg’s $400 million purchase by Goldman Sachs subsidiary Bricks Acquisitions and online CEE travel group Slevomat’s sale to the UK’s Secret Escapes.
Not all of Rothschild’s mandates were small-scale, however. The firm also advised on one of the largest deals in CEE last year, helping EDF on the €1.5 billion disposal of its Polish assets to state-controlled power producer PGE.
Rothschild’s regional network in CEE is based around offices in Athens, Istanbul and Warsaw, but the group also has representatives in Budapest and Bucharest, as well as local partnerships in Prague, Zagreb, Sofia, Moscow, Kiev, Minsk, Vilnius, Tallinn and Riga.
Jacek Chwedoruk is managing director, head of Poland and co-head of CEE at Rothschild Global Advisory.
